Thursday, February 17, 2011

Out of sync

I was about four paragraphs into a really terrible blog post when I realized that not only was it not going to be worth reading, it wasn’t even worth finishing.

Instead, may I direct your attention to what Matt B. has to say. Whether you live in a state governed by a backward legislature or not, his insights into the immigration “problem” are spot on. For a government that seems unafraid to invoke morality or even divine authority as a justification for certain policies, how they interpret the second great commandment and treat their fellow man seems a bit, shall we say, out of sync.

I don't understand this dichotomy either. I can't understand why people will so blindly worship the rule of law that they'll use it to bludgeon their fellow man. Have the immigration hard-liners never needed mercy or compassion, not even once, in their life? Do we want a country where only justice reigns?

I feel most the immigration talk (especially in Utah) is cart before the horse. Shouldn't we figure out a path (work permits, faster track to citizenship, etc.) for the non-criminal illegal immigrants first before we punish / deport?

Deuteronomy 27:19 Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.'

Deuteronomy 10:19 So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Numbers 15:16 There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.

Numbers 15:15 As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the LORD.

Leviticus 23:22 When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'"

So, those invoking the scriptures against an alien are certainly hypocritical.

However, whether this means a state should finance the education of those present illegal is less clear to me.

SBJ: It's disappointing that so many don't see the hypocrisy. And to attempt to push these beliefs into law disheartens me.

My take is that most of the immigration hard-liners aren't motivated by hate, but by taking huge offense that someone is breaking the law and getting away with it. Vigilantism. Fear is also a factor - jobs, a minority group growing to possibly becoming the majority, xenophobia, etc.

Enel: Awesome. But as for the state financing their education, bear in mind that they too are taxpayers, and if we educate them, they are likely to pay taxes at a higher rate in the future. Education is seen as a public benefit and worthy of taxpayer financing because ultimately it is an investment in the future tax base.

Kris: Whether or not you go so far as to call it hate, it still reflects a racially-driven bias. What they seem to forget is that Europeans were the imperialist conquerors to this land. Latino immigrants are by and large of at least partially aboriginal stuck. You tell me whose birthright claim to the land has precedence.